A DECADE owning a local business is impressive, and will be a milestone celebrated by Sav's Takeaways Adele Savage early next month.
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In a city such as Mount Isa, when there are constant complaints about price fluctuations in everything from a can of soft drink to buying a house, Mrs Savage says one of the keys to keeping a business afloat is consistency.
"From the day we opened to now we've stuck to the same thing, because it works," she said.
"From day dot everything has cost the same and we're not tight with things like our salads or local ingredients and that's something we pride ourselves on."
Having been in Mount Isa 40 years and owning a business for 10, Mrs Savage said she had plenty of local knowledge and had grown with her store.
"It's strange because I've seen customers come in as kids in school, then adults with kids themselves and it just makes me feel so old, like I've been here forever," she said.
Mrs Savage described herself as a housewife-turned-business owner, having cooked fish and chips for other outlets before opening up her own place.
"My husband thought it would be a good idea, it wasn't too hard to learn the business aspect because I've always been a very organised kind of person," she said.
"I always did the shopping and budget at home so now I just do them both."
She said she still remembered the first day Sav's opened, describing it as a scary experience.
"It was a Saturday afternoon and the queue was up the footpath but I was hoping for that kind of crowd so luckily had prepared," she said.
"It never phased me working weekends or anything like that because I'd see people out there just buying a movie and going to Maccas so if that's all I've got to look forward to I thought I may as well be working.
"With the staff I've got here now it doesn't feel like working anyway, we'll have a laugh and a joke and it's just a good time."
Mrs Savage's passion for what she does is obvious, especially when she talks about the hard times.
"When the economy's down or it's a hard time it's pretty simple - you just work extra hours," she said.
And though she had the opportunity to hire more employees and take a step back from the primary cooking side of the shop, she has chosen to be there whenever she can flipping the burgers and frying the chips herself.
"I'm still the main cook and I love it," she said.
Sav's won 4LM's Best Burger award late last year, showing they must still be doing something right and with plenty of practice at home as well why wouldn't it be?
"Cooking's my hobby as well as my job so it's not something I ever get sick of," she said.
"I work all weekend so Mondays are my day off, so I do the traditional baked dinner at home that night and put in a bit of extra time.
"Lasagne or stir fry is probably my signature dish and I love baking too."
Even though she's now reached the decade milestone, Mrs Savage said packing up and leaving Mount Isa was never something she'd have on the agenda.
"I'll stay in Isa until I die now - I've got parents and siblings here, friends I went to school with, it's home for me and it always will be," she said.
"I went to Brisbane recently for a few days and just couldn't stand that busy city kind of place, I like that it's small here."
The business will celebrate a decade in business officially on May 3.